U.S. carriers stealthily move to support IPv6

Apr 3, 2008 7:59am

Are U.S. carriers quietly building support for IPv6, and if so, why are they being so quiet about it? Network World reports that some U.S. carriers are supporting IPv6 transitions, mostly for government clients (fed agencies are required to be IPv6-compliant in their backbones by June 30), with offerings not yet advertised in their product catalogs.

The custom work, which AT&T admitted to, is a precursor to what will likely be broader commercial IPv6 offerings next year. Several other carriers also have IPv6 plans in the works. But, Verizon Communications and Global Crossing are being really quiet about IPv6, and did not discuss their plans. Maybe carriers are being so quiet about it because they are still figuring out what they should charge.